Incandescent lamp and connections



(No Model.)

J. T. VAN GESTEL.

INGANDBSGENT LAMP AND CONNECTIONS.

Patented July 6, 1886.

W'lizessew,

u m'zna Photo-Lithography. Wllhlnglnn. n4:

NiTnD STATES PAT NT OFFICE.

J EAN THEODORE VAN GESTEL,

OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

INCANDESCENT LAMP AND CONNECTIONS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 345,008, dated July 6,1886. Application filed May 28, 1885. Serial No. 166,9l0. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JEAN THEODORE VAN GnsrEL, residing at Hartford, inthecounty of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Incandescent Lamps and Connections ofwhich the following is a description, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, where- Figure 1 is a side view of an incandescentlamp with the several parts separated. Fig.. 2 is a side view of thecap-plate ofthe switchbox turned to show the binding-screw. Fig. 3 is atop view, on enlarged scale, looking into the lamp. Fig. 4 is a top viewof the switch-box, showing the key. Fig. 5 is a detail view, on enlargedscale, in central section, of the upper part of the lamp. Fig. 6 isaplan view of a cut-out embodying my invention. Fig. 7 is aview insection through the cut-out on plane denoted by line was of Fig. 6.

The object of my invention is to provide an vincandescent lamp withmeans for support and connection to the respective poles of the mainwire that shall be free from many of the objectionable features of priordevices, and it is also to provide a key having material advantages; andto this end my invention consists in a lamp bulb or globe having withinthe neck a ring of non-conducting material that supports thecontact-plates in connection with the conductors of the lamp, and in thecombination of such devices with the springs of the switch and a keybearing a loose sleeve of non-conducting material, and in details of theparts and their combination, as more particularly hereinafter described.

In the accompanying drawings, the letter a denotes the switch-box of anincandescent lamp, having a threaded opening in its cap, by means ofwhich it is screwed onto a supporting-bracket; b, the lamp'base, whichhas a ferrule of metal fast to the outer side of the neck of thelamp-bulb and bears projecting pins 1), adapted to take intolocking-slots in the lower edge of the switch-box and serve to supportthe lamp in the ordinary manner.

The letter 0 denotes the lamp bulb or globe, which is of usual form andmaterial with the re-entrant base (I, with the platinum leads 6 sealedthrough the glass, supporting the carbon and connected to the respectiveconductorsff, which lead upward from the lamp bulb.

The letter 9 denotes a ring of non-conducting material, which is fittedclosely within the neck of the bulb at its upper part, and which bearson its opposite and inner side the contact-plates h, which arepreferably cut from sheet metal, with prongs or arms-adapted to bethrust through vertical holes in the ring 9 and have their points bentor clinched over to hold the plates in place. The long arms h turn downthrough holes in the ring, and are turned outward on the lower edge ofthe ring, while the short arms h" turn inward into a groove cut in thelower edge of the ring, the particular office of this latterconstruction being to provide no chance of such contact of the arms aswill short-circuit the lamp. The conductors ff pass through holes in thesub stance of the ring, and are soldered to therespectivecontact-plates. The respective polepieces are formed by the spring-armsit, that are fastened to the edge of the noirconducting disk j, that isfast to the under side of the cover of the switch-box and on oppositesides of it, by means of screws, that are also used as binding-screwsfor the ends of the main wire. The keyl is pivotally' supported acrossthe center of the switch-box in such position as to lie between thespring-arms. This key is made up of the shaft 1, bearing a thumb-pieceon the outside of the case for turning it, and within the case a sleeve,2*, of non-conducting material, oblong in crosssection at the partbetween the spring-arms, and so supported on the shaft as to have asidewise play or rotation upon the shaft, that is limited by means ofthe pin Z, that projects from the shaft into a socket, Z. in the sleeve.By means of this construction the sleeve, when the key is turned tobreak connection, will be quickly thrown by the recoil of the spring asthe edge of the sleeve slips along its face, so that thecontact of theouter faces of the spring-arms with the contact-plates II, will bequickly broken and a spark avoided. This same form of key may obviouslybe used in other devices with equal advantage, as in the cut-out in.(Illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7.)

One advantage of my improved construction of the means of connecting thebulb to the switch-box is due to the fact that by reason of suchconstruction the inner chamber formed by the re-entrant neck of the lampis left open,

preventing the extreme heating and breaking of the lamp at this point,as is common where 5 the parts are fastened in by plaster.

Another advantage is due to the fact that the lamp-globe can be put onor taken OK the switch without making contact with either pole.

10 The main advantage of the key is that the springs on both poles areused to make or break contact simultaneously, and a further advantage isdue to the fact that the spring helps to turn the key so rapidly thatthe con- 1 tact is broken in a manner that avoids a spark.

I claim as my invention 1. In combination, the lamp having the re

